Opinions about Crowd Sourcing Anime

[Coldlight]

This reminds me of all those "fund it!" and "shut up and take my money!" type of comments I see occasionally from people.

Well, this could challenge them to put their money where their mouths are.

[bhl88]

Maybe they can ask for funds from other sources (aka 50% crowdsourcing)

[Marcus H.]

^ I wouldn't say 50%. I think 20-30% might do. Or just make it such that how much money comes in dictates the likelihood of an anime project pushing through.

However, it still leaves the "quality" of a project in the hands of the primary source of budget. i.e., Little Busters! might not benefit much from crowdsourcing if the ones who will give the money allocates "less than expected" budget to the production.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Marcus H.

However, it still leaves the "quality" of a project in the hands of the primary source of budget. i.e., Little Busters! might not benefit much from crowdsourcing if the ones who will give the money allocates "less than expected" budget to the production.

I don't think it has much to do with budget, but more to do with the director's style, the way the staff chooses to spend the money they're allocated, and other constraints related to the production that may be outside of their control. And to the example, I really don't think Little Busters has a budget problem; the main problem, such that it is, is the art/animation direction that causes things to not look as flashy as people hoped (and use some shortcuts that people find a bit obvious -- i.e. it doesn't hide its budget usage well). In practical terms, it probably has no less budget than most any other show airing these days.

In the end, I suppose the only thing that crowd-sourcing gives you here is perhaps a sense of increased perceived loyalty to the people who funded you in the first place, so if you deliver any preview art or sample animation, you may be more driven to make sure that it sticks as close as possible to that look/style. But still, most of the Japanese anime industry these days revolves around producing things as quickly and cheaply as possible (out of necessity); I'm not sure if crowd-sourcing will really be a path that will reverse that trend. If anything, I suppose it's a way of gauging interest in an unusual otherwise "unfundable" concept (as in this case).

[gsilver]

Well, I put $100 down on it, and I was a backer from day 1. I'm a big fan of Masaaki Yuasa's works, so I'm very excited about this project, especially since it earned enough to get an English dub. This is a way to get very non-traditional stories made.


...Though, I admit that I'm biased by the "name" associated with this. An up-and-coming director without a track record yet had a really good idea would probably have a much more difficult time getting his vision made.

This isn't the 80s anymore, when the OVA market was booming and anyone could get their product made. A lot of bad stuff came out then, but so did a lot of amazing works.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by relentlessflame

In the end, I suppose the only thing that crowd-sourcing gives you here is perhaps a sense of increased perceived loyalty to the people who funded you in the first place, so if you deliver any preview art or sample animation, you may be more driven to make sure that it sticks as close as possible to that look/style. But still, most of the Japanese anime industry these days revolves around producing things as quickly and cheaply as possible (out of necessity); I'm not sure if crowd-sourcing will really be a path that will reverse that trend. If anything, I suppose it's a way of gauging interest in an unusual otherwise "unfundable" concept (as in this case).

I don't know. How is it different from micropayments, for example? Unless I've somehow seen the product beforehand (don't ask, don't tell), making a micropayment for a single episode of anime is not substantially different from donating a small sum to fund a project I haven't seen. The main difference, as I see it, is the chance that, for whatever reason, the project does not get completed, in which case whatever I've invested on it would be totally lost.

The other unspoken risk is that of fraud. I'm surprised that no one talked about this. (I suspect that's one of the reasons credit card donations are preferred over PayPal transactions.) In this case, we're dealing with known entities, Masaaki Yuasa for one, and Production I.G for another, so the risk of them running away with our money is lower. I wouldn't be as trusting, however, if I've never heard of the project team members. So, as a funding model for an independent title by a team of complete unknowns, I don't think it would work as effectively.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

I don't know. How is it different from micropayments, for example? Unless I've somehow seen the product beforehand (don't ask, don't tell), making a micropayment for a single episode of anime is not substantially different from donating a small sum to fund a project I haven't seen. The main difference, as I see it, is the chance that, for whatever reason, the project does not get completed, in which case whatever I've invested on it would be totally lost.

I think it's so different, but I think the idea is that people are willing to donate much larger amounts so they can be part of the "founders" group and for the chance of getting whatever bonuses are on offer. With the way this anime fan community is, I think it's probably easier to find 100 people who will give $100, than 10,000 who will give $1. I think that's basically the same principle that drives Japanese anime Blu-Ray/DVD pricing.

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

The other unspoken risk is that of fraud. I'm surprised that no one talked about this. (I suspect that's one of the reasons credit card donations are preferred over PayPal transactions.) In this case, we're dealing with known entities, Masaaki Yuasa for one, and Production I.G for another, so the risk of them running away with our money is lower. I wouldn't be as trusting, however, if I've never heard of the project team members. So, as a funding model for an independent title by a team of complete unknowns, I don't think it would work as effectively.

I think this is certainly true. I think it's really important that people think of these crowd-sourcing initiatives as donations that they're just throwing out there (i.e. the money is already gone), and then it's nice if you get something back for it. One of the things that Kickstarter (and other similar sites) has been careful to point out is that they are not a store -- as they get more well-known, they're concerned that people will get the wrong idea that giving money guarantees something, but it doesn't. Anything promised is only an "intention", subject to change or cancellation without notice.

So I definitely agree with your point, and I think it's worth repeating to make sure everyone understands what they're getting into.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by Coldlight

This reminds me of all those "fund it!" and "shut up and take my money!" type of comments I see occasionally from people.

Well, this could challenge them to put their money where their mouths are.

That's pretty much my thought on the matter. As long as there ARE projects that interests the potential founders. Expect me to pour money into something like an animated version of Gunnm, Blame!, JoJo part 4, a remake of Fate/Stay Nigh or Tsukihime, or a possible FMP new season, but certainly not the XXXnth variation of Cute Girls doing Cute Things, incest theme LN adaptation or some more I won't elaborate on.

[Kanon]

It's an innovative and interesting idea, but I assume this concept primarily works when you have a big name (like Masaaki Yuasa) on board the project. This would probably also be a very successful mean to fund anime adaptations. FMP was brought up earlier, I'm sure a lot of people would be ready to spend money to finally see a third season animated. The same applies to a lot of other works.

To be honest, I'm impressed Kick-heart managed to raise as much 200K dollars. There is definitely a market to exploit, here.

Is this the first time someone has attempted to fund an anime project on kickstarter? If so, then I'm surprised nobody has thought about that earlier.

[bhl88]

Won't they look at the PV as a decision if they'd donate or not?